Removable closure member for tube sheets



Dec. 12', 1933".v c. K. BENNETT REMOVABLE CLOSURE MEMBER FOR' TUBE SHEETS Filed Feb; I6, 1932 I 7 1 denial W Dec. 12, 1933. Q K, BENNETT 1,939,034

REMOVABLE CLOSURE MEMBER FOR TUBE SHEETS I Filed Feb. 16, 1932 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 12, 1933. c, K BENNETT 1,939,034

REMOVABLE CLOSURE MEMBER FOR TUBE SHEETS Filed Feb. 16, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 jhvezdor M Patented l2, 1933 REMOVABLE CLOSURE MEMBER FOR TUBE SHEETS Clement K. Bennett, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to C. H. Wheeler Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a, corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 16, 1932. Serial No. 593,239 1 Claim. (Cl. 257239) My invention relates to a closure member for movable or iioating tube sheet in heat exchange apparatus, and particularly to a closure member which is readily removable as a unit with its fastening means.

In accordance with the invention, a closure "member or cap, is removably secured to the tube sheet, with which it usually forms a chamber with which the tubes communicate, by clamp members generally hook-shaped, carried by the cap member. and passingaround the edge of the tube sheet; the shorter ends of the hook clamps engage behind the edge of the tube sheet, and the longer ends of the clamps pass through apertures 16 in the edge or the cap member and have a threaded portion, so that the clamps may be drawn up,

as by nuts, irom the outer side of the cap member to provide a pressure-tight joint between the tube sheet and cap member.

Further in accordance with the invention, each of the hook clampshas means, for example a generally flat surface adjacent or abutting the edge of the tube sheet, which prevents turning of the hook clamp while it is tightened or loosened; the hook clamp has another surface .which is tapered or rounded, or has a shoulder portion,

to permit turning of the clamp, after it has been loosened and backed off a distance sufiicient to clear said flat surface, and thus permit the clamp and its shorter end to be rotated or turned to clear the edge of the tube sheet to permit 'withdrawal or either the tube sheet or the cap member.

Further in accordance with the invention the hook clamps may be released from engagement with the tube sheet without removal of the clamps from the cap member, and the cap member and clamps may readily be removed, or replaced in position, as a unit. \1

Further in accordance with the invention, di-.

0 vided tube sheet sections independently movable with respect to each other may be employed, each having a closure cap, and the distance between the tubes in adjacent parallel tube nests or groups is reduced by staggering the hook clamps in adjacent edges of the cap members, an arrangement which also permits the adjacent tube nests and cap members freely to pass each other."

In accordance with a modifiediorm of the invention, divided tube sheet sections have a single closure cap member common to the sections; preferably, and as shown, each of the clamp members positioned between adjacent edges of the divided tube sheets is common thereto, and has two bearing surfaces or hook-shaped ends engaging the adjacent edges of the sheets.

tube sheets.

-22 of Fig. 1, and showing the removable tube sheet cap member in position.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the hook clamps in clamping. position.

Fig. 3a is a cross-sectional view of the hook clamp taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 3.

' Fig. 4 is a view of the hook clamp in lowered position.

Fig. 5 is a view of the hook clamp turned to permit removal of the'cap assembly.

Fig. 6 shows the invention applied to divided tube sheet structure. Fig. 7 is an end view of Fig. 6 with the shell cover cut or sectioned on line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a modified form' of the invention. Fig. 9 is an end view of Fig. 8 with the shell cover cut or sectioned on line 9 9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 illustrates the invention applied to offset tube sheet sections.

Figs. 11 to 13 show modified forms of tube sheets and cap members. Fig. 14 is a detail of the clamp member shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown a surface condenser which for purposes of description generically includes all other like heat exchangers for other purposes. There are enclosed in an outer casing -orshell S, nests T1 and T2 of tubes t, secured at their left ends to a fixed tube sheet 1', and at their right-hand ends to a removable or floating tube sheet 1. The tubes t extend ion- 'gitudinally in the shell, parallel to each other, be- 109 tween the tube sheets, and are secured thereto, as by having their ends rolled or expanded, Fig. 3, by welding; or othersuitablemean's, to provide a pressure-tight joint betweenthe tubes and the r An inlet Ids-provided for intake of a fluid, for example, water, steam, or vapor, to or from which I heat is transferred, which fluid is caused to flow or circulate between and around the tubes in heat transfer relation therewith, passing out through 110 'outlet 0. A baiiie 28 extending substantially the length of the tubes, separates the nests and prevents short-circuiting action by the fluid, and causes it to come in contact with the entire area of the heating surfaces of the tubes. An inlet 1 is in communication with the ends of the tubes of the nest "T1, and the fluid, for example, steam, vapor, or water, from or to which heat is transferred, successively passes through the tubes of nests T1 and T2, passing out through the outlet 0. Ballles b and b at the left hand end of the :shell S, and a ribbed portion 17 of closure mem- ?ber 2 at the right hand end of the shell. cause the fluid to flow through all-of the tubes it, so that the fluid comes in contact with the largest possible surface for effecting heat transfer.

To permit longitudinal expansion and contractlm of the tubes t due to temperature changes,

and to prevent buckling of the tubes under high temperatures, it is common in the art to provide a movable or floating tube sheet at one end of the tube nests.v The fixed tube sheet at the opposite end of the nest is also removable from the shell 8, so that the .tube nests may be removed through the end of the shell adjacent the fixed tube sheet for cleaning, repair or replacement purposes, and in order to permit removal of the tube nest, the movable or floating tube sheet 1 is provided with a removable cap 2. In order to remove the cap 2, the ends of shell S, which is connected thereto by means of flanged portions j and f, is removed, thus giving access to the tube sheet cap.

The present invention provides clamp members for the removable tube sheet cap, which effect a pressure-tight joint between the cap and tube sheet, and the clamp members may be tightened or loosened and their position controlled from the outside of the cap, and may also be removed with the cap as a unit, thus not only facilitating removal, or replacement in position, of the cap member, but also with a minimumamount of labor.

Fig. 3 shows details of one of the clamp members, each of which comprises a generally U- shaped member or hook clamp C, passing'through an aperture 6 in the circumferential edge of the cap 2, and having an end 7 which engages behind the tube sheet 1 to clamp the cap and tube sheet together. The number of clamps employed, or the spacing between them, will depend upon various factors, such as the size of the'apparatus,

the pressures of the fluids within, and the size Oh the clamps. A pressure-tight joint is'obtained by having a peripheral ribbed portion 3 of the cap member enter a groove 4 of tube sheet 1,.the joint being sealed by gasket material 5 positioned therebetween. The tube sheet, in the form illustrated in Fig. 3, also has a recessed portion 8, such as a circumferential groove, in its inner face receiving the short end 7 of the hook clamp, so that when a nut 11 is screwed down upon a threaded portion 10 of the hook clamp, the ribbed portion 3 of the cap and the short end 7 of the clamp coact to exert clamping pressure on gasket 5 and-seal the joint between cap member and tube sheet.

ing cocking ofthe hook clamp when the same is tightened.

As shown in Fig. 3, the hook clamp hasa substantially flat surface 14 which is adiacent to or abuts the edge of the tube sheet when the clamp is being looosened or tightened, to prevent turning of the clamp while screwing or unscrewing the nut 11. Fig. 3a shows how the flat surface 14 extends from agenerally rounded or tapered surface 13 adjacent thereto.

When it is desired to remove the cap memb 2, the clamp is backed off, by unscrewing nut 11, to the position shown in Fig. 4, so that the short end 7 of the hook is out of engagement with the shoulder 15 of the tube sheet. In this position the flat surface 14 of the clamp is below the edge of the tube sheet and shoulder 15, and the rounded or tapered portion 13 of the clamp is adjacent the edge of the tube sheet, so that the clamp may now be turned through an angle of 90 to the position shown in Fig. 5; in which position it clears the edge of the tube sheet and permits withdrawal of either of the tube sheet sections or the closure cap assembly. A squared portion 12, on the end of the hook clam en- 10o ables the clamp to be turned by a wrench from the outside of the cap. Each of the hook clamps of the cap are similarly backed off and turned to the position of Fig. 5, and therefore the cap and its clamping means may be removed from the tube sheet section as a unit.

Fig. '6 shows the use of removable tube sheet caps 2, 2 in connection with divided tube sheet sections in parallel. Each of the nests T1 and T2 has a floating tube sheet 1, and. individual tube sheet caps 2 are clamped thereto. Referringto Fig. '7, it will be seen that the respective caps are semi-circular in outline, and that the clamps C in engagement with the adjacent edges of the tube sheets pass through ears 16 and 16' of the caps staggered with respect to each other, so that the distance between the adjacent tubes of nests T1 and T2 may be reduced, and thus provide a greater heating surface for apparatus of a given size, or provide the same heating surface with apparatus of smaller dimensions. The staggered arrangement of the hook clamps also permits either of the tube sheet sections to move past the other.

Figs. 8 and 9 show a modified form of the in- 12,5 vention in which divided tube sheet structure has a single closure cap 22, with a transverse ribbed portion 13, generally similar to that of rib 17 of the cap of Fig. 1, but sufficiently wide to engage the adjacent edges of the tube sheets 1, 1. The

clamp members passing through transverse portion 18 are preferably of the type illustrated in Fig. 14; each of the clamps C having two ends or bearing surfaces 7, 7 engaging the inner surfaces of the tube sheets, with two generally 5 flat surfaces 14, 14 which engage the edges of the tube sheets to prevent turning of the clamp when screwing or unscrewing the nut 11, and two generally rounded or tapered surfaces 13, 13 to permit turning of the clamp after the 40 ends 7, 7 are out of engagement with the shoulders 15, 15 of the tube sheets. The double clamp members shown reduce the number of clamps required," and also the necessary clearancebetween the tubes in adjacent parallel tube nests or groups. It will be understood, however, that single clamp members 0 may be used'with the rib 18, and may be staggered as. shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 shows a structure in which the tube Sheet sections T1 and T2 are in parallel, and their Figs. 11 to 13 show diflerent forms of tube sheet and cap construction. In Fig. 11 the tube sheet is provided with a ribbed portion 19 which is received within a recessed porton 20 in the cap, the gasket material 5 being clamped between them.

Fig. 12 shows a tube sheet having a shoulder 21, formed by the. cutaway portion 23, which shoulder enters a cutaway portion 20 of the cap 1 Fig. 13 shows a tube sheet having a recessed portion 4 into which the ribbed portion 3 of the cap extends, and the inner face of the tube sheet is not recessed but has an extending rib 15 behind which the end 7 of the hook clamp engages.

What I claim is:

Heat exchange apparatus comprising divided tube sheet sections independently movable with respect to each other, a closure cap for each of said tube sheets, means for removably securing,

each closure cap to its tube sheet comprising a hook clainp engaging the edge of the closure cap and adapted to'engage an inner surface .of its corresponding tube sheet, the clamps which pass through adjacent edges of the closure caps positioned in staggered relation with respect to each other to permit said adjacent tube sheet sections and caps ireely to pass each other.

' CLEMENT K. BENNETT. 

